


The Pillar of Salt

by SpyVsTailor



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Based on a request for a Sophia lives story., F/M, I have no idea where to begin to explain how this story came about., Let's just say it was a request., Original Character(s), This is most definitely an alternate universe type thing.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 15:41:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8495905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpyVsTailor/pseuds/SpyVsTailor
Summary: Sophia Peletier was scared, alone and without a friend in the forest, running from the dead and hiding in old farmhouses. Until she literally ran into a tall, dark Cajun Marine who saves her life and gives her a brand new one. A life filled with growing up and finding truth in a pretty abandoned convent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to blackqueenphoenix, wherever you are now, dear. You read my Graveyard Dirt & Salt series over on fanfiction.net, and said to yourself, 'I want to see Carol hook up with the Lieutenant and also Sophia lives', and you asked so nicely for it. So here it is.
> 
> Those who don't know of my Graveyard Dirt & Salt series. My many apologies if this is confusing, I tried to make it as understandable as possible. I'm not plugging the series, it's terrible, I'm just saying.
> 
> One final shout out to resurrectionofannabellee, who keeps this story going. You're the only reason I'm aiming to finish it, girl.

**Chapter One**         

She ran so far and so fast, that she couldn’t react to anything in time to stop, branches slapped and gashed her face, twig and brambles tore at her clothes and her lungs were burning from the exodus. Somewhere behind her she had dropped her doll, somewhere before her she knew were those nasty walker things her mama and the others were always fighting.            

She had stopped in a house a ways back, but she didn’t know how long she cowered in that cupboard, falling asleep only when her body gave out on her, but then those things found her there when she went to use the toilet outside, so she was running again, always running. If she kept running she wouldn’t be caught. Bursting through some thick bushes, she slammed hard into a body and screamed, falling backwards hard onto her bottom.            

She hurried to scramble back from it, knowing it was dangerous.            

But the form turned and looked at her with human eyes.            

Sophia stopped scrambling and warily studied the man. He wasn’t from her group.            

“ _Mais_ ,” he drawled with a broad, kind smile, squatting down to eye her with shining blue-grey eyes, “this is not the kind of rabbit I was hunting.” Blinking up at him with large hazel eyes, Sophia struggled to overcome her fear and shyness to say something to the man. He looked like the type who she could talk to, but her mama always said to never talk to strangers and his voice was certainly the strangest she had ever heard.            

But he dressed like the soldier men on the news, the ones who were overseas fighting with other people.            

“What are you doing so deep in these woods, _lapin_?” The man asked her.            

Hearing crashing coming from the direction she had come, Sophia struggled to her feet and hurried to hide behind the man, hoping he’d protect her from those things. Squinting her eyes against the nightmares that were real, she pressed in tight against his hip and gripped at his funny suspenders that were full of little pockets and things that looked important.            

The man stood so tall, that Sophia’s head only came up to his waist, but when he raised his rifle with the duct taped scope on it, she felt safe, he looked like he knew what he was doing as the ugly thing that was after her came barging through the bush she had.            

Cringing at the shot, she pressed in harder against him, until the woods were silent and still again.            

The man stood statuesque and tense for a moment, rifle shifting around, scanning the woods.            

Finally he lowered it and lifted his right arm to look down at her.            

“It’s okay, _petit lapin_ ,” he assured her. “Nothing’s gonna get you anymore.”            

She released him with shaky arms and stood close enough to be shielded by him from the bad things, but far enough away to be out of arm reach. That was how she stood with her daddy, always far enough away that he couldn’t get at her.            

“Where’d you come from?” The man asked in his funny accent.            

Sophia shrugged, still afraid of him, but less than the nightmares that walked the earth. If he could keep her safe from them, then he was possibly her new favourite person.            

“My name’s Lieutenant Lafayette Vancoughnett the fourth,” he greeted. “You can call me Fate. I’m one of the good guys.”            

She offered him a quiet look, before shakily saying, “my mama says I shouldn’t talk to strangers.”          

 “Hmm, where is your mama, _lapin_?”            

Sophia looked about at the woods with a furrowed brow, before tears welled in her eyes and she shrugged.            

“Okay, we’ll find her, yeah?” The man assured her.            

She nodded.            

“Sometimes,” he said, “the best way to get yourself unlost is to retrace your steps. See?” He pointed to the leaves she had kicked up in her fleeing. She followed his long finger down the trail she made, before nodding.            

“So,” he adjusted the heavy looking pack on his back and smiled, his thin lips pulling up into a very warm smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “We follow the yellow brick road back to Oz, yeah?”            

Sophia nodded eagerly.            

As he started off the way she came, she followed him closely, eyes on the lookout for those things.          

“Are you a soldier?” She asked shyly after a few minutes of walking. It almost burned her throat to speak.            

“I’m a Marine,” he corrected gently. “Do you know what that is?”            

She shrugged.            

“We’re like soldiers, only better and wetter,” he smirked at her.            

They walked on quietly, before he remarked, “you sure got a lot of freckles on you.” When she said nothing in response, he angled his chin and said. “My _Mamere_ would say you got left out in the rain when you were knee high to a grasshopper’s thigh.”            

Sophia wanted to ask him what a ‘ _Mamere_ ’ was, but she was too scared of him and the entire situation to say anything. So she walked on quietly beside him, ready to grab on if she needed.

 

* * *

           

She was so hungry and tired, she could barely walk. The thought of water made her throat dry up and after the longest time of fighting it, afraid of the man, she slowed and then dropped to one knee.            

Fate stopped when he didn’t hear her little footsteps behind him and turned to her. “ _Lapin_? What’s wrong?”            

She held her empty tummy and got back to her feet. “I’m okay,” she lied.            

He tilted his head at her. “Come here, honeychild,” he said, motioning her over, dropping his pack onto the forest floor and digging through it.            

She approached him cautiously, she always approached people who weren’t her mama cautiously.            

Pulling out a box of crackers and an unopened bottle of water, the man offered them to her, smirking as he pulled out some bagged cookies too and held them out.            

She hesitated.            

“It’s alright, _lapin_ , they’re unopened, safe.”            

Carefully she took them with a soft, “thank you.”            

He smiled broadly and eased back onto his ass, keeping watch of the forest around them as she hurriedly tore open the crackers first and shoved a couple into her mouth.            

“My _Papere_ used to tell me a story,” Fate began softly, “about a little girl who used to come around their homes when he was boy. This girl used to beg for scraps at the doors. See? This was a different time, long ago, and children, particularly in those days black children, they used to not be neglected by our government. Orphanages were segregated, black and white, do you know what that means?”            

She nodded. They had learned about Martin Luther King Jr. the year before in school.            

“Well, in my _Papere_ ’s area of Louisiana, they didn’t have a black orphanage, so this little girl used to go door to door and look for little things need doing. And his mama used to give her little bits of bread and what she could, but my _Papere_ said, he used to save her little nuts and things he could stow away in a little tin under his bed. Of course, my family we never had that racial raising that the old timers did then. My great-grandmother was a black woman, you see, so we were always on the edge of society anyways. Unclean is what they used to call people who had black in them back in those days. Funny,” he mused, “they call me white these days, but then we were unclean. Anyways, the world is imperfect, one day you’ll understand better what I’m saying. One night, my _Papere_ followed this little girl to where she lived. And I’m using that term very loosely, she basically had an old mattress resting against a tree. And with her were three little ones, all younger than her and see, what she used to do was pocket this food and she’d pass it out to those children. When you’re hungry, I guess you’ll eat anything and any amount you can get.”            

Sophia quietly swallowed her mouthful of crackers. She wanted to ask him about the little girl and what happened to her. Wanted to ask what his ‘ _Papere_ ’ did, but she was too scared to.            

“There was a house,” she whispered. “I was in a house.”            

“Your home?” He asked.            

She shook her head.            

Inhaling, the man tilted his head at her. “Have you…did your daddy ever think to teach you how to…how to protect yourself from those things?”            

She shook her head.            

“You never held a gun or anything?”            

Again she shook her head.            

Fate frowned for a moment in thought, before he reached for the handgun at his side in the holster, unclipping it, he hesitated, before handing it to her carefully.            

“I’m gonna show you how to use this, okay? For your own protection?”            

She eyed it, not wanting to the touch the gun, but the idea of being safe appealed to her.            

“Is that okay? Or might your mama protest?”            

Withdrawing her hand back towards her, she frowned. Her mama always told her not to play with her daddy’s guns, but…if it meant getting back to her… “I’m not going to force you, _lapin_ , I’m only giving you an option, yeah?”            

Sophia decided against it, shaking her head.            

“Okay,” he returned his handgun and scratched at his jaw. “How about a knife? You want a knife? That means you’ll have to get a lot closer to one of those things?”            

She bit her bottom lip.            

Fate smiled, instead of growing angry and nodded. “I know, I have an idea.” He stood up and rapidly began scanning the area for something.            

Tilting her head, she watched as he picked up branch, after branch, before finding one he liked. He hefted it, then whacked it against a tree trunk a few times, before jabbing at the ground with it.            

Kneeling down beside her again, he glanced around for threats, before digging into his pack.            

He pulled out a dangerous looking old knife and a roll of duct tape.            

Sophia watched quietly, chewing on her cookie, as he began to tape the knife to the end of the stick.            

The man smiled that mischievous smile of his as he worked, before using his teeth to tear the tape loose and holding the weapon up proudly.            

“There, spear, yeah? Just like them ol’ cavemen.”            

She blinked at him. He was goofy, but she liked that.            

Showing her a few examples of how to use it, the man handed it over to her and she took it, handing back the leftover food stuff and testing the weight of the spear herself.            

“You can whack them with it,” he repeated and she whacked the air. “Slash them, but if you have the clear, go for the skull, yeah?”            

She jabbed upwards as he had done and smiled gently.            

“You like that best?” He asked her.            

Nodding, Sophia tried the spear a few more times, she liked the distance it gave her, and her mama couldn’t be upset with her for using a knife on a stick. “Thank you,” she said.            

Fate tousled her hair with a large hand. “Just want you safe, lapin. I won’t let anything happen to you, but this is good in case you need it, yeah?”          

“Um-hm.”            

“You’re a brave girl, aren’t you? Get that from your mama?”            

She nodded.            

“I’d kind of like to meet this mama of yours.” He teased, removing his helmet and settling it over her head. “Let’s make sure we meet up with her, yeah?” “Yes.”

Strapping his pack back on, Fate took up his rifle and nodded. “Alright, onwards and upwards, _petit lapin_.”  

 

* * *

         

As they walked, they reached the creek she had run through and the man paused, looking first left, then right.            

“Did you run through this creek?” He asked.            

She nodded.            

“Left or right?” He turned to her, eyes still warm and friendly.            

She shrugged.            

“Okay, it’s okay, just may take us a while longer.” He assured her. His voice was so deep that it sort of rumbled from deep within him like a volcano about to erupt. She wondered what it would feel like. When she used to fall asleep on her mama’s chest as a little girl, she could remember how her mother’s singing would lull her, because she could feel her mama’s soft purr deep under her, coming from her chest. Would this man’s rumble feel just as nice and comforting or would it feel like the earth was coming to an end?            

He gently moved her behind him then and she understood why, two of those things were coming at them from down the creek and she winced, closing her eyes tightly.            

“Please save me,” she whispered into his hip, “please save me?” This became something she repeated again and again, until she heard the shots and felt him lower his rifle again.            

“It’s okay, _lapin_ ,” he said.            

She popped open her eyes and found him loading more bullets into his rifle calmly, on one knee on the forest floor.

She approached him slowly.            

“My name is Sophia Peletier,” she whispered meekly, figuring it was time he knew. “My mama’s name is Carol.”            

The man glanced up from his work and smiled softly. “Sophia? Nice to meet you, Sophia.” He offered her one of his large hands, it looked rough and had cuts all over it, but she liked that, they looked like the hands of someone who did a lot of things and she blushed when she put her own little hand in his.            

They shook politely, before he motioned with his head to the right of where they stood. “How about we try this direction first, yeah?”            

She nodded and they set off again.            

As they walked down the creek, she heard him singing under his breath and smiled a little, hiding it behind the curtain of dirty, tangled blonde hair that her mom had cut into a bob when she started school. It had grown out now, but not enough that she could tie it back yet.

Maybe she’d cut it short like her moms. Her mom had the prettiest hair she had ever seen.            

“He rocks in the tree-top all the day long. Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ his song. All the little birds on Jay Bird Street, love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet,” the man sang a little louder, glancing at Sophia out of the corner of his eye.            

She watched him in amazement. No one she had ever met just sang like that.            

“Every little swallow, every chickadee, every little bird in the tall oak tree. The wise old owl, the big black crow, flap-a their wings singin’ “go bird go.” Sophia smiled a little.            

“You sing, Sophia?” The man asked her.            

She shook her head, hiding her smile behind a nervous hand.            

Fate chuckled as he slogged through the centre of the creek. “It keeps me company sometimes, singing. Of course it's only been me for months now, seems like.”            

She tripped over a branch and fell onto her hands and knees in the creek muck.            

Kneeling beside her, the man said, “you want a ride, _lapin_? Think you wore yourself out today with all your hiking.”            

Before she could reject him, he was turning, offering her his pack laden back.            

“Just climb on the pack and hang on.”            

She frowned. “I’m too heavy.”            

“That packs not even working at full capacity,” he teased over his shoulder. “Climb on.”            

Carefully she did, winding her arms around his neck, clinging harder as he stood up suddenly and they were on their way again, her spear clanking against his chest.            

From her position on his back she felt like she could see everything and buried her smile into his dark hair.            

“A pretty little raven at the bird bandstand, taught him how to do the bop and it was grand. They started goin’ steady and bless my soul, he out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole.” The man continued to sing to her enjoyment. “You wanna help me out on this one, _lapin_?” He asked. “He rocks in the tree-top all the day long, hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ his song. All the little birds on Jay Bird Street, love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet.” She didn’t sing along, but as the man continued to carry her, she mouthed along, which to her was more fun than she had in years. Wrapping her arms around his neck just a little tighter, she decided to keep him for a while.            

As they walked and he sang, she thought more and more about how happy her mama would be to see her. There would be hugs and kisses and all kinds of warmth. Her mama was good at that, she was her favourite person in the entire world. She had the ability to make bad things go away with just a look and a hug.           

Sophia thought about falling asleep in her mama’s arms, feel the purr of her voice against her. She couldn’t feel the man’s rumble under her as they walked, but she was sure it felt nice.            

They stopped for a rest in a nice open area of the creek, where he sat her down on a thick tree that had fallen over the running waters and Sophia watched them run beneath her, swinging her feet a little as the man moved about the open area looking for her trail.            

She didn’t have to keep her eye on him, he continued to sing to himself as he looked and it brought her comfort, because she knew he was never far.          

“So, Sophia?” Fate asked as he checked a steep embankment a few yards from her. “What do you do for fun?”            

She shrugged. She liked drawing, but she didn’t like to tell people that because her dad said it was ‘fucking useless’ and she shouldn’t waste her time. “Me? I like to fish, you like fishing?” The man said.            

Glancing to her right, Sophia spied the edge of something familiar wedged against a twig and paused, frowning. She hopped off the tree into the water and moved towards it.            

“Mr. Fate!” She shouted over to him, bending down to pick up her doll.            

He came running over, eyes worried and flashing to the trees. His posture relaxed when he found her holding up her doll to show him. “I dropped this!” She hugged it tight against her and smiled.            

This produced a wide grin from him and he relaxed. “Well, we’re on the right track then. Shall we get out of this creek?” He held his hand out to her and she took it without hesitation, allowing him to help her up the embankment near where she dropped her doll.  

         

* * *

 

They were in the thick of the woods again, but she didn’t care. She had her doll, Fate to watch over her and her mama waiting.            

Those ugly things didn’t scare her anymore. She was going home to her mama and Fate had his rifle.            

He was unlike any man she had met so far, he didn’t scowl like her daddy and Mr. Dixon, but he wasn’t busy with his own family like Mr. Rick, he was like…almost like if Mr. Rick and Mr. Glenn were combined. Because Fate made jokes like Mr. Glenn, but he seemed safe like Mr. Rick.            

Sophia liked them the best.            

Yet, she sometimes looked up and Fate was concentrating and his relaxed face was sombre and a little scary, but she wasn’t scared of it, because whenever he looked at her, it didn’t seem so scary. His eyes were soft and warm and his mouth was smiling.            

She liked the way he looked. Something about it was almost…he kind of looked like an angel, but when he took his helmet off earlier and she saw his ears, she decided he was more like an elf from that Hobbit book she read.            

He was tall and handsome enough and his ears were elf ears.            

Sophia had giggled behind her hand. Maybe he was an elf. He lived in the woods and talked funny and had elf ears.

They picked up her trail again, but her wet shoes were beginning to chafe and she was slowing, trying to walk in a way that didn’t hurt.

“Are you alright, _lapin_?” He asked after she lagged behind for the tenth time.            

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, forcing herself to keep up with him better after that, she didn’t want him to get angry with her.            

Her feet hurt so much where the backs of her shoes were rubbing against her foot, but she struggled hard to keep up with the man.            

But it got to the point where she was staggering and falling every time she took a step.            

Fate stopped finally and turned to her. “What’s wrong, Sophia?” He asked.            

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry.”            

He knelt, eyes concerned. “Honeychild, why are you crying?”            

With quiet sobs, she pulled her shoes off and showed him her bloody and chafed heels.            

“Oh, _lapin_ ,” he took her foot in one large hand and studied the damage. “Why didn’t you say anything?”            

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “Please don’t be mad?”            

“I’m not mad,” he assured her with a sad smile. “I’m not mad, honeychild. Hold still, we’ll make you all better.”            

She watched warily as he removed a roll of gauze from one of his many pockets and carefully began to bandage her feet up. His hands were so big and rough, but his touch was gentle and her tears dried when she saw he was more concerned with her feet than mad.            

She sniffled one last time and watched him work.          

“Does your daddy get mad or your mommy?” He asked softly as he gently set her left foot down and started on her right.            

She shrugged. It was her daddy, but she was scared to say. Mama said he wouldn’t ever hurt her again, but…the dead were walking around, weren’t they? Maybe he could come back and lay into her? What she did say, however was a soft, “my mama never gets mad.”            

Fate nodded and finished with her right foot, before looking her in the eye with his own twinkling so compassionately. “Where is your daddy now?”          

“Dead,” she admitted.            

“Do you miss him?”            

Sophia looked around, before quickly shaking her head.            

Fate smiled crookedly as he secured her little shoes to his belt by the laces. “Smart girl.”            

This time Sophia beamed at him.            

“And she has a pretty smile too, that’s double trouble for the boys,” he added, tapping the tip of her nose with his finger like her mama always did and turning to offer her his back again. “Come on, my _lapin_ ,” he said. “You’re my new pack until those feet heal up.”            

Sophia slipped her arms around Fate’s neck and smiled again as he stood up and set off with her.    

 

* * *

       

It was almost night by the time they returned to the house Sophia had fled from.            

As they stepped out from the woods into the yard, she tensed and moved in closer to Fate, her hand slipping into his in her panic.            

He squeezed it, before releasing her hand and saying, “hang on to my belt loop, _lapin_ , frees my hands up for shooting.”            

She did so.            

“Stay close,” he said. “And if I say run, you run out here and climb a tree, I’ll come for you, yeah?”            

“Yes.”            

“Good girl,” he whispered as they approached the house, motioning to a gnarled old oak. “You climb that tree as high as you can, yeah?”

Again she nodded. “Yes.”            

He hopped inside the house, rifle raised and swept the front hall, they moved cautiously forward into the dark.            

Sophia was afraid, the last time she was here there was about five of those things, they had killed three that had followed her, but…she clutched desperately at Fate’s belt loop as they moved through the dark house, her little bare feet padding on the floor softly.            

He paused at a cupboard under the stairs and opened it, checking it before saying. “Climb inside, honeychild, make yourself real small and quiet.” “Don’t leave me?” She panicked, remembering how Mr. Rick left her. “Please? Don’t leave me?”            

He was quiet for a moment, feeling her little hand clawing at his back lightly, before he knelt down. “Get on my back, yeah? Leave your spear here for now.” Sophia quickly set her spear up against the corner and hopped onto his back, holding him tightly.            

“Be as quiet as a church mouse,” he whispered to her as they began to move through the rest of the downstairs.            

By the time they cleared out the house and barricaded both the front and back doors, Sophia was exhausted, tired enough to not even care about the dangers outside the little home.            

Fate was busy fluffing the dust from a bed for her to sleep in, pack lying in the corner with his rifle and his sleeping bag all unrolled and ready for him to nap in. 

“Tomorrow,” he assured her. “We’ll pick up the trail.”            

She nodded, covering a yawn with her hand.            

“I’m gonna put myself across the door here, so nothing can get past me. You’ll be safest that way, _lapin_.”            

“What’s that mean?” She asked softly, crawling into the bed sleepily, not even realizing she was asking him a ‘damned annoying’ question.

“ _Lapin_? Means you’re a little bunny,” he smiled crookedly and tucked her in. “Bedtime, now.”            

Sophia yawned again and snuggled into the bed, too tired to care that it was someone else’s.            

When she woke again it was dark and the place was strange and she panicked, sitting up straight.            

“Fate?” She warbled.            

“What’s wrong?” He asked from the door where he was sleeping.            

“Sorry,” she whispered.            

“Bad dream?” He asked.            

Sophia pondered her next move, before slipping out of bed with her doll and padding across the room on her hurt feet to settle down close to him. “Scared?” Fate drawled.            

“Sorry,” she apologized again.            

“You apologize for the strangest things, _lapin_ ,” he teased.            

She was quiet, looking at the stars outside the window across from them.            

“Why don’t you go back to sleep,” he whispered softly, sitting up in his sleeping bag.            

Without thinking of him as a stranger or a danger, she curled up against his side, reaching out with her hand for the blanket she left half on the bed and half on the floor. She pulled it around her and nuzzled in close to Fate.            

She closed her eyes, but couldn’t sleep in that lonesome dark. The dark always scared her and now, with actual, real nightmares out there, she was more afraid than ever. But then, Fate began to softly sing something in his funny language and she wriggled up beside him in the sleeping bag, finding him safe and warm in the dark of night.            

That song he was singing was so pretty and he sang it so gently.            

And then, pressed against his side, Sophia felt it. There it was. That rumble of his against her side, even through the thick sleeping bag.

It wasn’t scary at all. It was like her mom’s, only it vibrated more and Sophia smiled softly, hugging him and her doll tight as she closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep with his rumble against her and his voice in her ears.            

Tomorrow they’d pick up her trail and then soon she’d be back with her mama.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

He had been traveling alone for weeks when the girl stumbled out of the underbrush like a frightened rabbit, falling at his feet with a small shriek.

One by one his men had left, gone home, packed it up and gave in to the pressure, as it was, until suddenly it was only him, his beaten .22 he affectionately called Graveyard Dirt and the pack on his back.

It was a turkey he was tracking, when she barrel assed through the woods towards him, but the ugly bird was soon forgotten in his haste to protect and calm the child.

She was a sweet thing too, he could tell. Freckles scattered across a pretty, pale face, hazel eyes wide and innocent, brows worried near constantly, clothes tattered and dirty.

And when she clutched at his ALICE in a panic, he knew he was smitten. That protect and serve feeling that had long died in him was rekindled and he killed the uggies that were on her heels, shielding her willowy frame with his more powerful one.

So they picked up the trail together to find her mama and now here he was, in the wee early hours of the morning, with the child pressed in tight against him, her brow still delicately puckered with worry, hands clutching almost desperately to his vest.

If he had to guess an age, he’d say the girl was 11, maybe 12? He wouldn’t know for sure, he had never really spent much time around kids.

He thought of how apologetic she was over everything, how quick she was to assume he was angry with her and frowned. She said her mama never hurt her, but that left only one other guardian who would raise a child to be so afraid of doing something wrong.

Thoughts of his own father came back to him and the Marine had to find something else to occupy his mind. He supposed the child would sleep half the day away, so he let her doze on, smiling now and then when she’d struggle to get in closer to him, nuzzling hard into his shoulder.

Poor thing must be terrified, he figured. It was scary for any child to be lost, never mind in the world they found themselves in now. He was just glad she came across him. A child in this world, who knew what kind of perverts were out there lurking, if the uggies didn’t get her first.

Reaching into his nearby pack, he withdrew a book and opened it, reading quietly, biding his time until the child woke up.

It was one of those period drama books, not a Bronte or an Austen, but full of misunderstandings and love and all things in between that made a period drama intriguing.

He was about twenty pages from the end by the time the little girl shifted and moaned, sleepily sitting up and taking in her surroundings. At first there was fear in her eyes, then recognition.

“Morning, _lapin_ ,” he greeted cheerfully.

She rubbed her eyes and studied him somberly.

Putting his book away, he pulled out a bottle of water from his pack and offered it to her.

With the gentility of a little bird, she took it and drank some.

“Do you have to use the little _lapin_ ’s room?” He asked.

She nodded.

“Okay…there was an outhouse out back, we’ll use that, yeah?”

She nodded again and handed the bottle back to him.

“Then I think we should head out and find some dinner.”

“Where?” She chirped.

He smiled. “Good old fashioned Cajun know-how. We’ll track something and kill something and clean something, then eat something.”

Sophia blinked at him. “I don’t know how.”

“Well, you’ll learn then.”

The little girl shifted uncomfortably as she stood up. “Um…do I have to kill something?”

He smiled up at her as he rolled up his sleeping bag. “No, lapin, the only things I want you killing are those uggies, yeah? You kill any that come at you if I’m not around, okay?”

She nodded and moved for the spear that he had fashioned for her.

Strapping his sleeping bag to his pack, he swung it up and on as he stood. “We find something to eat, then we find your mama, yeah?”

She nodded again.

 

* * *

 

 

They were in the woods, walking slowly and quietly through them.

Sophia was walking in his footsteps, moving as he showed her so that she didn’t make hardly a sound, her little feet bandaged heavily, her shoes tight, but not hurting too badly.

He was kind of pleased with how obedient the child was, she did everything he asked and she didn’t once complain. At times, as they moved through the woods, he actually had to glance back to ensure she was still there, she moved so quietly.

But sometimes, when a bird would call or something would rustle in the trees, he would feel a small hand grip his ALICE near his utility multi-tool and he’d smile softly.

Finally, after an hour of walking, he caught the trail of something big and smirked. From the marks left in the leaves, he assumed it was a deer. They didn’t need anything that big, but he wasn’t sure if they’d come across anything else.

So he took to the deer’s trail quietly, moving steadily through the trees.

When they finally came upon the creek where the deer was, he realized there were two sets of tracks and that one was considerably smaller. And sure enough, through the bushes that lined the creek, they found a doe and her fawn, both drinking from the water.

Sophia clutched his arm tightly, her face even more worried that normal.

He shook his head, assuring her he wasn’t going to hunt them.

She smiled at him for the first time and he smiled back.

“Come on,” he whispered. “We still need to find something to eat.”

 

* * *

 

 

They built a fire in the fireplace of the old farm where they slept and he cooked the goose he bagged over a makeshift spit in it while Sophia tended to the rice they were cooking on a little camp burner they found in the cellar.

“So, _lapin_ ,” the Lieutenant began as he slowly turned the goose on the spit. “How old are you?”

“Twelve,” she said.

“And what’s your mama’s name again?”

“Carol.”

“What do you do for fun, honeychild?” He asked.

She shrugged.

“Oh come on,” he teased. “There must be something you do for fun.”

She cast her sad hazel eyes down at the floor by the camp burner and shrugged again.

“You know what I like to do?” He asked.

She looked over and up at him.

“I like to fish, you ever been?”

Sophia shook her head.

“I like to sing too, but that’s just to pass the time and read, I enjoy reading. I read a lot, even before all of this, I read a lot. What about you?”

The girl worried her bottom lip between her teeth, then said softly, as though afraid of offending him. “I like to draw.”

He beamed at her. “Yeah? What do you like to draw?”

Again she shrugged.

“Would you draw me if I got you some paper and a pencil?” He asked.

Sophia tucked some of her dirty, knotted blonde hair behind her ear and worried her bottom lip again.

“In my pack, honeychild, there’s a pencil and notebook, you can have them whenever you want and you can draw whatever you’d like.”

The girl checked on the rice, before moving towards his pack, she hesitated at it, looking over and up at him.

“It’s okay, you can dig through it, just be careful yeah, there’s some dangerous things in there.”

She nodded and carefully began opening the pack.

As Sophia searched through the contents of his pack, he seasoned the goose with some seasonings they dug out of the cupboard, his mouth watering. It had been days since he had eaten anything hot, he didn’t really need to cook, since it was just him so he had been living on crackers and water. But the goose smelled so good and it looked even better, getting nice and golden brown over the fire.

After a few minutes of quiet, careful digging, she withdrew the notebook, but no pencil.

“Check the pockets, _lapin_ ,” he suggested.

She put everything back, before searching through all the little pockets and hidey holes around the front of his pack.

Finally, she pulled a pencil out and held it up a little in triumph.

As she moved back to check on the rice, with her notebook and pencil in hand, he struck a pose, sticking his chin out.

“Get my good side now,” he teased as she settled in to draw him.

He was looking over her work as she turned the goose on the spit the way he showed her, smiling to himself at her work. It was juvenile, of course it was, she was only young, but the potential was there.

“You got my number,” he pointed out. “I like it. Can I keep it?”

She shrugged.

Carefully folding the picture up, he tucked it into his breast pocket and smiled at the girl, taking over turning the goose on the spit again.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered, moving to pick at the rice as he finished up with the goose, carefully sliding it off the spit onto a large turkey platter they pulled out of the kitchen.

“Picnic style?” He teased, as she set a blanket open on the floor before the fire.

Sophia shrugged. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, I’m not too good to eat on a blanket,” he returned setting the cooked goose in the middle of the blanket with the pot of rice and their water.

He carved the goose as she set out the paper plates and plastic utensils quietly, obediently.

“White or dark meat, Sophia?” He asked.

“Leg, please,” she whispered.

He cut her off a leg and slipped it onto the plate.

“Careful,” he warned, “it’ll be hot, honey.”

She nodded and offered him some rice. As she took her first bite of the leg, he smiled at the blissful face she made.

“Good?”

“Um-hm,” she returned, taking some rice and stuffing it in her mouth as well.

“Can’t go home and tell your mama that I didn’t feed you now, can you?” He teased.

She shook her head and for the first time since he met her, she looked almost happy.

He got more enjoyment out of watching her eat happily then he did from the food himself, as the girl bit into the goose and ate the rice like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“You know what I miss?” He began lightly. “Bacon.”

She smiled, chewing on a mouthful of food. “I miss Froot Loops.” She said after a minute of eating.

“Cold milk,” he added with a grin.

“Any milk.” She said.

He chuckled and chewed on his goose.

“It’s fatty,” she murmured after taking a couple more pieces, throwing the leg bone into the fire.

“It’s good for you, fat gives you energy so you can outrun those things out there.”

Sophia scooped out more rice for herself and offered him some.

He shook his head, letting her eat her fill.

“Are you really strong?” She asked after a moment.

“Naw, I just look it,” he teased.

She blinked at him.

Reaching out, he wiped goose grease off her cheek and laughed.

Nervously, Sophia repeated his motion with her other cheek.

“Do you fight a lot of people?” She asked. “Because you’re a soldier?”

“A Marine,” he corrected softly, “and…not a lot anymore.”

She ate some more of her dinner, before frowning. “Why do you talk funny?”

“Do I?” He smiled. “Maybe you talk funny.”

“You’re not from here.”

“No, I’m Cajun,” he said. “From Louisiana.”

She frowned. “Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed.

“But…people sometimes think New Orleans is the capital, because it’s more popular. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, you got it, girl.”

Sophia nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Are you from New Orleans or Baton Rouge?”

“Neither,” he drawled, “I come from a small town called Basile. See my _Mamere_ , that’s Acadian for grandmother, she came all the way from a small community just outside Lake Charles, way down the bayou, way down south, she’s the one who taught me how to speak.”

“Speak what?”

“Acadian. The Cajun French. Not many people speak it where I grew up, but she made sure I learned it.”

Sophia finished her plate and leaned back on her hands. “How do you say mama in Cajun, Fate?”

“ _Mère_ ,” he said.

She repeated the word, letting it roll around her mouth.

“You full, honeychild?”

Sophia nodded.

“Okay, we’ll pack it up, take what we can with us…it’ll keep for a while at least if we pack it in next to some cold well water in my pack, yeah?”

“Maybe I can help…carry something,” she offered shyly.

He tilted his head at her. “Well, we need to find you a pack then…think there was one in the cellar with the camping gear. You want to come with me or be on your guard up here alone?”

She pondered this. “I’ll…put the food in containers in the kitchen.”

He nodded. “You keep your spear on you, yeah? And stay alert, we braced all the doors, but that doesn’t mean we’re entirely safe.”

She nodded. “I will.”

“I’ll just be in the cellar, you holler if you need me.”

Again she nodded and started collecting things to take to the kitchen to pack up.

He secured the pack on her back and tucked the food into it, along with her notebook and pencil, a flashlight he found in the cellar and old sleeping bag he found with the camping gear got strapped to the top.

The girl turned around and offered him a shy smile of joy.

“There,” he said, “now we match.”

She nodded firmly.

“When we get the well water into these empty bottles, don’t drink it, okay? We don’t know what’s in that water.”

“Okay,” she agreed as they headed outside from the kitchen door.

Outside the sun was already thinking of setting in the west, but Sophia wasn’t worried, she had her spear and Fate looking out for her.

“If we hurry,” he said, “we can pick up your trail and get settled a good ways down it before nightfall, then we’ll find a place to make camp.”

She nodded.

As Fate pumped water into the bottles, Sophia stood at his side, he could sense her nervousness before he saw it and smiled.

“Fate?” She began cautiously.

“Yes, lapin?”

“Thank you…for keeping me safe.”

Looking over, he reached up and tapped the tip of her nose with his finger and smiled. “Thank you for keeping me company. I was very lonely before you came running along.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Sophia walked alongside of Fate, one hand holding on to the strap of her pack, the other clutched around her spear.

Every now and then she’d look over and up at the man.

“So,” Fate began, “tell me, honeychild, about your people? In case I see them while you’re not with me.”

Sophia dropped her gaze to the deadly tip of her spear. “Um, well…there’s Mr. Rick he kind of…I guess he sort of helps Shane lead us. They used to be policemen. Mr. Rick is kind of nice. He has dark hair and he wears a uniform, with this silly hat. But…uh, then Shane is…he’s, mama says not to bother Shane. Shane has dark hair too, he’s got a kind of big nose,” Sophia added shyly. “Um, then there’s Glenn, I like him best, he tells me good jokes, mama says it’s okay for me to talk to Glenn. Glenn’s from the North, but his family is from Korea. He told me that once. Then there’s Dale, he’s old and has funny dark eyebrows and a beard. And when mama’s not looking, he gives me cookies from his RV. There’s T-Dog, think he said to call him that, but mama says his name is Theodore, he’s nice and sometimes rides with mama and I in the jeep. He’s a nice black man, who doesn’t have hair on his head, but has a beard like this,” she drew T-Dog’s beard on her own face with the hand that was holding the strap of her pack.

Fate chuckled.

“Uh, then there’s Mrs. Grimes, Carl’s mama, she’s very pretty, with long dark hair and she’s tall, Carl looks more like his daddy though, I think. His daddy is Rick, Carl’s my friend, we play games and sing-along and that. Then there’s Andrea, she’s nice, but she’s sad lately, because her sister became one of them. Andrea is very pretty and blonde. Then there’s me and mama.”

“And what does your mama look like?”

Sophia thought. “Well, she has blue eyes, they remind me of the sky, because the colour of blue always seems to change. And she has a nose that’s like an elf’s nose, kind of pointed and it wrinkles with she laughs, and her hair is short and grey and curly, but she’s the prettiest lady I know. She’s small, like me.”

“Do you have your mama’s freckles?” Fate teased.

Sophia bowed her head, blushing. “Yes.”

“And I bet you have her looks too, yeah?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m too little to know.”

“Well, you said your mama’s pretty and you’re very pretty, so I’m making the assumption that you’re her daughter.”

“What’s that mean? Assumption?”

Fate was quiet for a moment and Sophia was afraid he didn’t hear her. Finally he began, “ _mais_ , assumption is when someone goes on a gut feeling, I suppose.”

Sophia thought about that for a moment. “Sort of like,” she began, “I could make the assumption that you’re a nice man, because of how you’ve treated me so far?”

He beamed down at her. “That’s exactly right, _lapin_! Smart and pretty, you’re double trouble,” he teased.

She was immediately stopped by Fate’s hand on her shoulder, his body tense.

Sophia knew instinctively what that meant and moved in closer to him.

The cracking and rustling of leaves on the forest floor alerted her to the presence of something. She hoped it’d be someone from her group, but she wasn’t that lucky.

Out of the underbrush one of those things came stumbling, one mangled leg keeping it from charging.

“Sophia,” Fate said moving them back from the thing, keeping a good distance. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she admitted without much thought.

“I want you to put this one down.”

She frowned.

“I have you covered, just stick your spear up into the underside of her chin like I showed you.”

“I can’t,” she whispered as they moved back some more.

“I want you to try, honeychild,” Fate said. “There may be a time when I can’t and you need to learn to keep these things from hurting you. Don’t worry, I’m right here with my finger on the trigger.”

Sophia eyed the scary thing as it hobbled lamely towards them. The woman, it looked like, had her lower jaw hanging at a horrific angle and her mouth ripped. She looked, not just in pain, but miserable. Sophia tightened her grip on her spear.

“Okay,” she whispered, “I’ll try.”

“If anything goes wrong, just use your spear to keep her away from you, yeah?”

She nodded and eyed the walker up as they moved back from it some more, she could get it under the hanging chin, sure.

Taking a shaky step forward, she raised her spear and took her first tentative swipe at it. The knife tip of her spear sliced across the lady’s forehead and Sophia backed off, not liking the idea that it might have hurt her.

“Take it down, _lapin_ , she’d have no mercy for you,” Fate urged calmly. “She’s suffering. Put her down.”

His voice was a comfort, as Sophia kept a distance between her and the walker, her spear held out in white knuckled hands. Inhaling, she frowned and took one last try, jabbing the spear up into the lady’s cheek. It didn’t go in far enough and the flailing walker knocked them both over, Sophia releasing her spear as they went down.

In a white hot panic she scrambled to her feet, only to hear a gunshot.

About a foot from her the walker laid still, spear still in her cheek.

Sophia looked over at Fate who still had his rifle raised.

“Sorry,” she said, feeling like she failed him.

He beamed at her. “You did good for the first time, _lapin_. I knew you would.”

“But I didn’t put her down,” Sophia said.

“Nope, but you learned what not to do, yeah?” He walked over and retrieved her spear for her, handing it over with a smile.

“I’ll do better next time,” she promised.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, to recap a calibre is…?”

Sophia trucked alongside Fate, his long legged gait slowed for her sake.“A measurement of bullet sizes,” she chirped proudly.

He smiled. “Yeah, good girl, and this rifle in my hands is a…?”

She frowned. “Twenty-two.”

“Why?”

“…uh…because if you measure the pointed tip of a bullet…um…the ones for your rifle are point twenty-two inches wide.”

“No, a twenty two is less than a quarter of an inch, _lapin_.”

Sophia cringed. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re doing very good. What does diameter mean?”

“Oh…” Sophia frowned. “The…um…circular, the measurement around the base of the bullet.”

“Yep. But, caliber is only important to know if you’re unsure of what a gun can fire. Your best bet is to always know your weapon and then just peek at the bottom of the bullet.”

They walked on quietly for a bit, Sophia hefting her spear quietly, before tentatively asking, “Fate?”

“Yes, honeychild?”

“Um…do you have children somewhere?”

“Me? No, never had the chance.”

They walked on again in companionable silence, before Sophia worked up her courage again. “Fate? Are you married?”

“Nope. Why? Thinking of a pretty lady in particular for me when we meet up with your people?”

Sophia smiled shyly, hiding it against her shoulder. “No!”

“Oh well, that’s too bad, this is a lonely world we live in. Always has been.”

They walked along, Sophia looking up at the tall man reverently. She was warming to him, more than warming to him, she enjoyed being with him, he made her feel safe and he was funny. Something about his smile made her smile as well. “I think you’d be a good daddy, Fate.” She confessed shyly.

He glanced down at her with a twinkle in his eye. “Yeah?” Tweaking her chin, he chuckled. “Well, maybe I’ll look into it.”

“Fate?” She asked again, feeling like maybe she was pushing his patience.

Instead of frowning like her daddy would, he smiled wider. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Will you leave me? I mean, when we find my mama, will you go?” She bit her bottom lip worriedly.

He turned sombre blue-grey eyes on her. “I…I guess if you ask me to stay, I’ll stay for you, _lapin_.”

“Really?” She asked.

“Sure, I have no where better to be, besides someone needs to make sure you never get separated from your mama again.” He teased. “Protect you two, like.”

Sophia beamed broadly. “Yes! You should do that. I think mama would like you to. I mean, look after us and keep us safe. She’d like you.”

“Yeah? Is she smart? Because I love a woman who can put me in my place with a single word.”

“Um-hm! She's so smart and funny.”

“Well now then there, _lapin_ …”

Sophia giggled.

“Bet she doesn’t make goose the way your Lieutenant makes goose though, huh?”

Sophia smiled. “She’s never made goose.”

“Never? Well, there’s one thing you can show her how to cook,” he returned.

She nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

They stepped out onto the highway with some trepidation. The last time Sophia was there, the road was littered with walkers.

Fate kept her from panicking, his calm, quiet manner as he approached the asphalt was reassuring.

Climbing over the guardrail, they stood there for a moment and looked down one way and then the other, but Sophia couldn’t see the RV.

She frowned, feeling fear grip her. “She’s not here.”

Fate calmly said, “we’ll find her. Don’t worry, lapin. She won’t have gone far.”

Sophia nodded and followed him as he started off down the highway.

They checked vehicles as they went, taking little things here and there that would be of use, mostly lighters and matches and the likes, some snacks and water bottles.

Finally, Sophia spied her name painted on the windshield of a golden car and she hurried Fate towards it, finding a small cache of food left for her, she beamed excitedly at the Lieutenant.

“She’ll be back for me!” She exclaimed, checking out the food left for her and smiling at the peanut butter. It was her favourite.

“Well, let’s settle in then and eat our snacks, yeah?” He suggested.

She nodded excitedly and they hopped onto the hood of the car to have their midday picnic.

 

* * *

 

 

It was getting to be dark and Sophia was sitting in the car in the backseat, curled up against Fate as he told her all kinds of stories about his home and when he was young. She loved them all, but her excitement to see her mama was great and she could barely pay attention.

She was excited to be hugged by her mama again, to see Carl, to hear Glenn tell his bad jokes, to follow Dale around and eat all the caramels he could give her, but mostly she was excited to introduce her new friend to her mama. She knew she’d love him. Fate was the best.

Wrapped up in a thick, warm blanket from the trunk of the car, Sophia yawned and pressed in closer to Fate for warmth, her spear resting at her side, his rifle at his.

They were safe for the moment, though he did tell her if they spied movement outside to remain quiet and still, that everything would be okay, and she believed him because he had put up blankets to hide them from walkers outside.

They were in their own cocoon of safety and she was happy.

“So you never had any brothers or sisters?” Sophia asked him.

“Nope. You?”

She shook her head and burrowed in closer to Fate. She was a little scared at first to be so close to him, for some reason she felt like maybe because he was a man, or because he was strong like her daddy, he’d be one of the people she should keep her distance from, but once there against him, she found Fate felt safe, like her mama. He didn’t feel at all like her daddy when he’d try to cuddle. Fate at her side, gently holding her with one arm around her shoulders, was comforting.

Up close she could see the strong material of his funny multi pocketedvest and studied everything attached to it.

He seemed to have a lot of little things and she made a mental note to ask him what they all were come the morning.

For now she’d close her eyes and let him watch over her as she slept.

 

* * *

 

 

She was awoken the next morning by the sounds of voices outside the car and it took her a moment to wake up enough to realize they were intelligent.

Sophia looked at the Lieutenant who was peering out past the blanket, before he smiled gently.

“Short grey hair on your mama, yeah?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Hm, she’s just as pretty as you described her.”

She flew across his lap to peer out the window with him, before grappling for the lock and opening the door.

Sophia tackled her mother hard, arms wrapping tightly around her waist, tears streaming from her eyes.

Her mama smelled just as she remembered and her arms and everything felt so good. Kneeling down to look her in the eye, Sophia’s mama held her face gently and wept, kissing her on the cheeks and nose and forehead and chin, weeping with joy.

Sophia was doing the same, she knew she was.

A commotion broke her away from her mama in time to turn and find Mr. Rick pushing Fate to his knees, a gun to his head.

Sophia choked and took a step away from her mama, but she was held back.

“It’s okay, _lapin_ ,” Fate assured her, on his knees, hands held high. “Don’t worry.”

Mr. Daryl kept his crossbow trained on Fate as Rick shoved him all the way down onto the ground, flat on his face.

“Rick, just shoot him, we don’t know him!” Mr. Shane shouted. "For all we know he took her in the first damned place!"

Sophia gripped her mama’s hand hard and pressed back against her. “Mama,” she whispered.

“Rick,” her mama tried.

“Man, we don't know him!” Shane shouted. “And we don't owe him!”

“Shane, calm down,” Rick replied. "We don't know if he took her."

“Shoot him!”

Sophia turned from man to man, before Shane marched forward and kicked Fate in the face with his boot.

“Mama!” Sophia shrieked.

Her mother stood quietly, holding Sophia still as Rick and Daryl pushed Shane away from Fate’s unconscious body.

As Rick and Shane began shouting and yelling at each other, Daryl quietly stormed off, leaving Sophia’s mama to kneel beside Fate, quietly turning him over, Sophia kept close to her mama for fear of being parted, for fear of losing Fate, scared for him.

Fate’s face was bruising by his eye, it was split and bleeding, but he was still breathing deeply and Sophia dropped by him with her mama, touching his hand.

“Mama,” she whispered. “Don’t let them hurt Fate.”

Her mother looked at her quietly, before Rick marched over and made a move towards Fate.

Sophia’s mama stepped in quickly, catching Rick’s wrist in her hand.

“No, Rick,” she stated. “Leave him alone, please?”

“Carol,” Rick began.

“He saved my daughter, Rick!” Sophia’s mama declared.

Sophia had never heard her mother raise her voice. It didn’t scare her, it somehow made her feel better. Like her mama was becoming something more than just her mama.

“None of you touch this man!” Her mama declared again in her firm, loud tone.

Sophia felt even better when T-Dog and Glenn wandered over from a truck. She knew they’d never hurt anyone.

“Help me with him,” Sophia’s mama asked them. “Let’s get him into the truck.”

Her mama made sure to take hold of Sophia’s hand, as T-Dog and Glenn helped Fate up and headed for the truck while Rick and Shane continued to fight and argue.

Sophia glanced back and found Daryl looking at her quietly and she blushed, before following her mama into the cab of the truck with T-Dog.

As they began to drive, Glenn in the back with Fate, Sophia’s mama asked her all about her adventure, crying and holding her close and Sophia lapped it up, though turning now and then to check on Fate in the back, worried he was hurt bad.

“You want to point that elsewhere, kid?” T-Dog asked playfully as he drove, pushing Sophia’s spear head out of his way.

She blushed, forgetting all about it in the excitement and tucked it against the door opposite him.

“Where on earth did you get that?” Her mama demanded.

“Fate made it for me.”

“Honey, did he…I mean, what happened? Baby, I’ve been so worried, you…” her mama began.

“I’m okay,” she assured her mama, snuggling against her. “Fate fed me and kept me safe, then made me this and taught me how to use it.”

“Who is he?” Her mama asked.

“Fate? He’s a soldier…no, a Marine and he’s a Cajun, that means he comes from Louisiana. I’m sorry I talked to a stranger, mama. But can he stay with us, please?”

“I don’t know, honey.” Her mama said, casting the back of the truck a worried look.

“Please?”

They pulled up to a beautiful farm, where Dale’s RV was parked and some tents had been set up around it.

Sophia and her mama hopped out of the truck as it pulled to a stop, Carl and his mom coming running to greet them.

“Sophia!” Carl exclaimed.

She hurried to him, before stopping halfway and glancing back at the truck, ensuring it was only T-Dog, her mama or Glenn who were approaching Fate in the back.

It was all three, so she smiled and turned back to Carl.

“What happened? Where were you? What is this? Who’s that?” Carl asked rapidly.

Sophia didn’t think much about answering as her mama hurried with T-Dog and Glenn and Fate, towards Dale’s RV. She hurried to catch up with them, ignoring Carl’s questions in favour of following behind with her pack and spear.

Inside Dale’s RV, Sophia’s mama had Fate laid out on the bed in the back and glanced around for Sophia, motioning her close.

Sophia went, standing by her mama and looking down at Fate as her mama tended to his head. She set her spear aside and dropped the pack he had gotten for her from the house basement, easing onto the bed at Fate’s side and taking his large hand in hers.

“Sophia, are you hurt?” Her mama asked, stroking her hair out of her eyes.

Sophia shook her head, before saying, “well, my feet are sore from walking so much, but I’m okay. Fate kept me safe.”

“Why do you keep calling him Fate?” Her mama asked.

Sophia frowned. “Because that’s his name.”

“And you swear you weren’t bitten or scratched? Let me see?”

“I’m fine,” Sophia whispered.

Her mama sighed and looked the man over quietly for a moment, before drawing her mouth in a grim line. “Well, who is he?”

“I told you, mama.”

Her mother frowned again. “There’s an emergency medical kit over the sink, honey. Can you get it for me?” As she said this, her mama leaned over and gave Sophia a kiss to her forehead.

Sophia beamed and hurried to get the kit for her mama, hoping she’d help Fate.

As she was getting the step stool from behind Dale’s driver’s seat to climb up and get the kit, the old man entered and Sophia waved shyly at him.

“Hi, Dale.” She greeted.

He beamed widely and stepped forward to pull her in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re back, Sophia.”

“Me too. Can you get the medical kit for me, please?”

Dale reached up and pulled it down for her. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said flippantly as she headed for the back, “Fate is.”

Handing the kit over to her mother, Sophia moved to sit beside Fate and take his hand again as her mama began to go through the kit for things, Dale moving to stand in the doorway with a frown.

“Who is this?”

“He found Sophia,” her mama explained.

“He saved me,” Sophia pointed out softly.

“He looks like military,” Dale pointed out. “Who did that?”

“Shane,” her mama said.

“He’s a Marine,” Sophia added proudly.

“Shane,” Dale murmured a little darkly. “I’ll find you some fishing wire to stitch that up with.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Carol worked quietly, eyes moving from her work to Sophia, checking to ensure her daughter was real and was there with them. The past several days were a blur for her without her daughter.

But now that she was back, all Carol worried about was losing her again. No, she wouldn’t ever make the same stupid mistake she made before, Sophia was going to stay close to her and nothing would part them.

The man beneath her gaze looked big enough to threaten anyone, but the odd way her daughter had sort of taken his hand or spoke about him, had her worrying less about him hurting anyone and more about worrying over Rick or Shane wanting to harm him because he wasn’t one of them.

He was handsome, she realized, as she finished stitching his wound and daubed away the excess blood. Beneath the stubble and the grime of the road, he was very handsome. His face classically good looking, his nose pointed and regal, his brow stern, but his eyes were crinkled in the corners with many fine laugh lines, which betrayed the grim brow.

With pointed features, he looked impish, almost elvish, but in a very pleasing way.

No, she didn’t think this man was a threat. Not the way her daughter looked at him.

Carol owed him her entire world.

Taking a bucket of sun warmed well water and a cloth from Dale, she set about gently wiping the dirt and grime off of the man’s face, giving him a sponge bath and getting a better look at his elegant features. If she couldn’t offer him anything of real substance equal to what he gave her, she could at least take as good a care of him as he deserved.“Dale, could you get me that bag of disposable razors and some shaving cream?” She asked him, moving the wet rag to the man’s throat and the parts of his chest that were bared.

Dale didn’t say anything, but she heard him move away and knew he was fulfilling her wish.

“Can he stay with us, mama?” Sophia asked when they were left alone with the man.

Carol smiled a little. “He’s not a puppy, sweetie.”

“Fate said he’d stay if we asked him to.” Her daughter went on explaining.

“Why don’t you go outside, I think I see Carl waiting for you,” Carol said, eyeing the young man through the slats in Dale’s blinds.

Obediently, Sophia stood up and nodded, heading for the front of the RV.

Sighing, Carol carefully began to undress the man, propping him against her as she slid his undershirt over his head. It could use a good washing, she decided, looking him over for any other wounds as she undressed him, cleaning him the best she could as well. She found the odd bump and bruise, but nothing serious as she cleaned him up.

She was just running the wet cloth over a black tattoo on his lower stomach, when she noticed a pair of blue-grey eyes were watching her.

“Am I _defan_?” The man croaked in a funny accent that she knew could only be the mixing of old south and French. “Sainted and deceased?” He clarified softly, shifting a little.

“No,” she replied, still cleaning him.

“Then I’m not being bathed by an angel?” He returned with a winning smile.

“No,” she stated. “Most certainly not.”

“Hm, you’re Sophia’s mama, yeah?” He murmured, eyes sliding shut as she continued to wash him.

“Carol,” she said.

“Hm.”

Studying his face now that it was more animated, Carol frowned, hand slowing from bathing him. “Thank you,” she said. “For bringing my baby girl back to me. I’m sorry about what Shane did to you.”

“Let me ask you something, _beau ange_ ,” he rumbled beneath her hands. “If that man hadn’t of introduced me to his boot, would you be taking such good care of me?”

“Probably not,” she said.

“Then I’m glad he booted me,” the man returned with a crooked grin as Dale returned with the bag of razors and shaving cream.

Carol took the items quietly, setting them in her lap and thanking Dale who eyed Fate for a good, long moment, before leaving quietly.

“You’re a Marine, Sophia tells me,” Carol said, washing the man’s arm, holding it up by the wrist to get under.

“Yes, ma’am. Lieutenant Lafayette Vancoughnett,” he introduced. “The…fourth.”

“Fourth?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Carol smirked a little. “You make me feel old calling me ‘ma’am’,” she teased.

“I can go back to calling you ‘ange’ if you like,” he returned playfully.

“Depends on what that means,” she said.

He grinned a beautiful, boyish grin. “It’s not bad, I promise.”

“My daughter is all I’ve ever had, she means more than my own life,” Carol admitted softly, washing his other arm. “It was…it’s my fault that we got separated. I was being selfish and thinking of myself and she wandered too far away from me and then those things came and…you don’t know what you’ve done for me by bringing her back.”

“Your husband…” the man began tentatively. “He ever touch her? Hurt her?”

Carol froze in the middle of washing his hand, his fingers perched on the tips of hers.

There was a long, awkward pause, before the Marine amended. “She’s a good girl, you must have raised her right.”

It was too late of course, the damage had been done, the accusation that she would allow any harm to knowingly come to her daughter was there.

Suddenly, he wasn’t as handsome as she first surmised, his wounds superficial.

Carol quietly covered his wound and stood up, forgetting about her decision to offer him a shave, heading for the front of the RV where Lori stood at the door with Carl and Sophia.

“Carol,” Lori greeted in that tone of hers that heralded the coming of a speech by Queen Lori, wife of Rick. “Rick and Shane think it’d be best if this man talked to them a bit, before we make a decision.”

“I think Shane said enough with that size eleven boot of his,” Carol pointed out stubbornly, placing herself in the middle of the narrow aisle into the back of the RV. “He’s not a threat, Lori, he saved my daughter.”

“Those men want to talk, I can talk,” the Marine said from right behind Carol. “If talking’s all we’re gonna do, I can jaw the night away. Back home I was a well-known _raconteur_ , like my _Papere_ before me and his _Pere_ before him.”

Lori blinked at the man, then at Carol, before nodding and turning around to leave the RV.

Carol turned to the Marine and found him slipping his dog tags over his head with a small frown.

“You alright, _lapin_?” The man asked her daughter.

Sophia nodded. “Are you?”

“Yep, hard headed,” he beamed at Carol’s baby girl and offered her the tags. “You wanna hang on to these for me?”

Sophia took them quietly. “You won’t leave us, will you?”

“Not if I can help it,” he returned, stroking Sophia’s hair out of her eyes.

Carol moved to prevent the man from leaving, touching a hand to his chest to stop him. “Sophia, go help Dale on the roof.”

Her daughter nodded, leaving reluctantly with Carl.

“You can’t stay here,” Carol said to the Marine.

He shifted on his feet. “Look, I know I stuck my big foot in my mouth with that comment about your girl, but—“

“No, it’s not that. If you stay…I don’t…I don’t think you’re safe staying here. I don’t,” she moved in close to him and whispered, “I don’t trust Shane. Think he’s half-cocked and looking for a fight to prove himself."

The Lieutenant blinked down at her, before nodding. “Okay,” he stepped back and headed into the rear of the RV for his shirt.

Carol followed him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Sophia will take it hard, she’s…I’ve never seen her warm to someone like this.”

The man studied his shirt in his hands and smiled easily at her. “Well, I’ve taught her all she needs to know anyways, think she’ll be just fine.”

Eyeing the nasty looking bruises to his ribs, Carol frowned. She couldn’t let the man who brought her daughter back to her just walk out after a beating like he had sustained. It seemed wrong.

“Let me,” she paused, hesitating. “Do you know what you’ve given me?”

He beamed at her. “I have an idea, _ange_. She's a real special girl. Sweet and gentle, like her mama.”

“No, I…without Sophia…for the first time in our lives, we’re free. Sophia needs to know what that’s like.”

The man’s smile faltered and he shifted on his size ten boots, head bent to them. “Your husband…do you miss him?”

It seemed an odd question, but Carol accepted it, rolling the answer around in her head long, before answering softly. “No.”

“I wish I was an _ange_ , an angel,” the man began gently, his deep voice softening into something wonderful, “I’d watch over you and Sophia for all eternity. But I can’t,” he nodded, “so I’ll do the next best thing.”

Carol frowned in confusion, she didn’t know who this man was that seemed to have already decided that they were his to watch over, but it wasn’t unwelcome. It was…comforting. After Ed died, as silly as it seemed, she was cast into foreign, white capped waters and found nothing to cling to.

This man could be the rock she needed to pull herself up again.

Removing a strange bag from his pocket, he studied it quietly before offering it to her.

“Keep this,” he said. “Maybe it’ll call me home whenever you ladies need me.”

She took the bag and murmured, “home?”

“Where the heart is,” he returned with a broad grin, tapping his bare chest. “Be good, yeah? Don’t ever lose yourself to the monsters, inside or out.”

“You don’t know me,” she whispered, shocked by how familiar he was being with her.

“I know you, _ange_.” He slipped his shirt on gingerly, minding his bruised ribs. “Tell Sophia,” he paused, inhaling sharply, before rolling his shoulders and continuing, “tell her I’m proud of her.”

Carol nearly dropped the bag in her hand. Until that moment the only person who had ever told the girl that she was a source of pride was her.

Who was this man to just…assume a role in Sophia’s life? He must have bonded with her daughter? Sophia didn’t trust people easily, but the way she acted with him…it was familiar.

His face was so open, so genuine. So…comforting.

Handsome, yes, she wouldn’t deny that, but there was more than looks to his face, there was heart, soul, open love and adoration. For her? No, it had to be residual adoration for Sophia.

In the silence of the RV, Carol gripped that funny bag tightly and found herself unable to move, to speak, to do anything as he turned and slipped out, into the afternoon sun. Just walking off boldly.

Carol was only able to move when Sophia came back into the RV, looking around with eager, almost happy eyes. The light (something that hadn’t existed in them before) died quickly when she found it was only her mother standing there.

“Where’s Fate?” Sophia asked in her soft, shaky tone.

Swallowing thickly, Carol sighed. “He had to go,” she said.

Tears welled up in Sophia’s eyes, but they were dried fast, Carol knew why. Ed hated when Sophia cried, it only seemed to anger him more, so her daughter, much like her, had learned to supress emotion, to ball it up and swallow it down like a bitter pill.

“Okay,” Sophia said, resigned to the fact.

Moving in close to her daughter, Carol took her face in both hands and kissed her forehead. “I love you,” she said to her child. “I’m so sorry I let you get lost, baby.”

Blinking at her, Sophia pulled away and offered her a sad, forced smile. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have met Fate.”

Carol sighed as her daughter looked out the window wistfully.

“Will he ever be back, do you think? Maybe if he forgot something or—“

“No, baby, he’s gone.”

Sophia’s eyes glazed over again with tears, before the girl nodded. “Can I go outside now?” She whispered.

“Why don’t you stay with me and tell me all about your adventure with Fate?” Carol suggested, curious about what her daughter had gotten up to with the Marine.

The girl shook her head. “I don’t want to. I’ll only miss him more,” she confessed plainly.

A decision was made then and there by Carol, that if her daughter was finally free and if freedom meant being happy with the Marine, then there was no way she was going to repress her baby girl’s freedom or happiness.

It would be dangerous, possibly stupid, but she realized that she was free as well. She could make her own choices. And as such, her first decision was to go after the man who brought light to her daughter’s dull eyes.

She glanced at her daughter again and scowled at herself. No, it was mistake letting him go without them.

Somewhere deep down her brain shouted ‘you don’t know him! He could be a dangerous criminal!’ But her sensible side calmed that part of her brain saying ‘if he was dangerous he would have harmed Sophia, not helped her home.’

They had to go after him! The longer she debated it, the further away he got! And she had sat around just letting things happen for far too long. It was time for her to make a decision, to take charge.

She burst out of the RV and took in the surrounding farmyard, but there was no sight of the man.

Carol looked all around like a madwoman, but she didn’t have the faintest idea where he would have gotten off to.

“Mama?” Sophia asked from beside her.

Recognizing the fear in her daughter’s tone, Carol smiled reassuringly at her. “It’s okay, baby. Let’s…let’s get all our things packed up, just in case Rick wants us to leave quickly, okay?”

Sophia eyed her, before nodding. “Okay.”

Touching Sophia’s chin, Carol nodded. She didn’t want to get Sophia’s hopes up, in case they couldn’t find him. “Just in case.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

He had finally gotten the RV fixed, Glenn at his side, eyeing that farmer’s daughter with googly eyes, hand dropping his 1/8th ratchet over and over, until finally Dale just took the damned thing away.

Carol approached him, her eyes worried.

Across the farmyard they could all hear Rick and Shane still going at it.

“Dale?” Carol asked gently.

The woman was always so sweet and gentle, he almost always made time to hear her out when she spoke.

“What is it? That Marine—“

“He’s gone…” she pulled him aside, casting a nervous glance at Glenn who was still distracted. “Dale…I want to go with him.”

Dale blinked and leaned in closer to the woman. “What?”

“Sophia loves him, I…” she faltered it sounded ridiculous to her when she said it out loud. “I don’t know…but I feel like we have to go with him. I’ve never seen her…she adores him already and…”

“Okay, okay,” Dale said. “Just…” he paused hearing Rick and Shane’s fighting as it intensified.

“Okay,” he repeated softly. “We leave tonight.”

“No,” Carol insisted. “We have to go now. I don’t know…I don’t know where he’s going, but if we’re quick we can catch up with him.”

Dale frowned. “Rick won’t—“

“It’s not his call to make,” Glenn broke in, moving to stand with them. “I want to go too. I’m sick of them fighting and that…she’s not giving me the time of day.”

“Glenn, stop thinking with the brain below your belt,” Dale scolded. “Okay, just…let me think.”

Carol cast a glance around the farmyard, hoping to see the Marine lingering.

“There’s no time,” she insisted, moving away rapidly.

“Wait,” Dale called after her. “Carol, get in the RV. Let’s just…”

“Let’s just go,” Glenn broke in.

“Boy, you are nursing a wounded pride,” Dale returned archly, following everyone into the RV.

“We should take some supplies,” Glenn amended.

“No, they’ll think we’re stealing them. Let’s just go.” Carol said.

Dale started up the RV. It came to life with a hellfire rumble.

“Everyone just sit down,” Dale ordered.

Grabbing Sophia, Carol eased into a bench seat at the table with her as the vehicle began to move.

Staring out the window longingly, Glenn said, “I wish she would have—“

“Let her go, Glenn,” Dale said.

“She just didn’t give me a chance,” Glenn moaned. “I’m a pretty cool guy, you know?”

“You’re alright, but you are not buying a farm with that corn fed country girl.” Dale pointed out, maneuvering the RV down the lane, spying a few raise their heads curiously as they passed by the farmhouse.

“Mama?” Sophia asked.

“It’s okay,” she reassured her daughter.

Sophia clutched at the dog tags Fate had given her and hugged her doll in close.

Halfway down the dirt road they spied T-Dog driving in the blue pickup and stopped so Dale could talk to him out the window.

“Where are you heading?” The man asked.

“Going to find that Marine for Carol, getting the hell out of this place before Rick and Shane bring us all down with their pissing contest.”

T-Dog frowned, but nodded. “I’m coming with you. Saw him hoofing it down this road about half a mile down.”

“Fate!” Sophia exclaimed loudly.

Dale had never heard the girl utter anything louder than a whisper and glanced over his shoulder at Carol, who blinked in surprise herself.

He pressed his foot to the accelerator and sped off, T-Dog turning the truck and trailing behind.

About half a mile, just as T-Dog said, Dale spied the Marine walking, his heavy pack on his back.

He turned at the sound of them approaching and stepped off the road cautiously, before recognizing the RV and stopping entirely.

Dale pulled to a stop beside him and opened his window to speak, but Sophia was already tearing away from her mother and throwing open the door.

She was in his arms in an instant and gripping the man tightly around his waist.

The Marine beamed widely and scooped the girl up.

“ _Lapin_!” He exclaimed.

Carol nervously stepped down from the RV and approached the man as Dale watched.

“I’m sorry,” Carol said gently, hands clutching at the strap of her satchel bag. “I sent you away after you saved my daughter’s life…I’ve never done anything so cruel.”

Dale glanced over at Glenn who was watching quietly.

The Marine smiled almost shyly. “You want me to come back with you?”

Carol shook her head and the smile faded almost instantly.

“We want to come with you,” she said firmly.

Taking a step back, Sophia still around his waist, the man eyed Dale and then took a glance at T-Dog in the truck behind them.

“I’m not…really going anywhere in particular, _ange_ ,” he said finally.

“Neither are we.” She insisted.

Again the Marine glanced at the others. “Are you sure?”

“You saved Sophia,” Dale said. “The world needs more men like you. We’ll go with you. Better than waiting around for Shane to get us all killed with his cock of the walk attitude.”

They were driving for about ten minutes, when everyone began to really think over their decision to flee like criminals.

“Okay, this is a cool idea as a whole,” Glenn began. “But maybe…I mean, what now?”

In the rear view mirror, Dale spied the tall Marine lean over and whisper something to Carol as they sat at the table.

Carol frowned and shook her head, saying something back.

The man seemed to reassure her of something and she sat up.

“There’s a place just ahead, an abandoned convent,” she said. “It has high enough walls, we might be safe there, until we figure it out.”

In the rear view mirror, Dale smiled at the Marine who sheepishly grinned back at him and eased back in his seat.

Something about that man eased Dale, Rick was too overbearing and there was somewhat of an edge to Shane, but this new man, he seemed like someone Dale could co-exist with. He was a thinker, a strategized, someone who didn’t have anything to prove to anyone.

“Where’s this convent, then?” He asked.

“If the little lady to my left is thinking of the same place I am, then it’s just off the highway up ahead, down a hard to see little trail in the woods. I’ll get you there.”

Dale spied Carol look a little flustered in the mirror and smiled to himself. He wondered just what was up there, but remained stoic when Glenn turned to him.

“Great, I wasn’t getting any on the farm and now we’re going to a nunnery.” Glenn grumbled. “Perfect place to end my life.”

“Your rear end isn’t getting chewed on,” Dale replied. “Small miracles, Glenn.”

“Will we see some nuns, mom?” Sophia chirped shyly to her mother.

Dale beamed at the child in the mirror, she was such a darling thing. He had to admit he was charmed by her.

“No, _lapin_ ,” the Marine said. “They were all gone when I got there. Left a note on the church door said ‘welcome, make use of God’s house, may He show you mercy and hope’.”

The girl leaned up against the Marine’s shoulder and closed her eyes sleepily.

In the mirror, Dale spied Carol bristle at the close contact her daughter had with the strange man, but in the same breath, she relaxed and eventually reached out to tuck her daughter’s hair behind her ear.

“Wherever we end up,” Carol whispered. “We’re going to get you into a bath somehow.”

Sophia beamed through the mud and grime on her face almost proudly and announced, “Fate says the dirtier you are is a sign that you’ve done an honest days work.”

“Ah, but always remember, _lapin_ , that if mama says you need a bath, it’s time to hit the tub,” the man returned slyly.

Even Dale chuckled as Sophia sighed a little. He hadn’t seen the girl so animated. It was like she got lost and came back a girl without fear and shame.

“So, where are from, anyways?” Glenn asked. “No offence, but your accent is strange.”

“Strange? Where you from, Michigan?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Huh, I can tell, lot of strange folk with funny accents from up the bayou.”

Sophia giggled into the Marine’s shoulder softly. It was barely heard and Dale only caught it by the shaking of her thin shoulders.

“Louisiana, isn’t it?” Carol asked.

“Yes, ma’am, Basile, Louisiana.”

“Now, that’s about…central Louisiana,” Dale mused. “But that accent is thicker…I’d say…Baton Rouge?”

The man beamed. “Thick? Nah, my accent is heavily watered down. Lake Charles, originally. My _Mamere_ taught me how to speak.”

“ _Mamere_?” Carol asked.

“Grandmother, my tough old granny. Now, when I was younger, just a _petit enfant_ , my _Mamere_ took her time teaching me how to speak. Used to tell me, ‘T-Fate’, ah, that’s little Fate for you Texians – she used to say ‘T-Fate, we gotta keep the speak alive, most don’t know it, most abuse it, it’s ours and we gotta keep it going’. And that old woman she taught me every darned word a Cajun boy needs to know, but the two most important we’re the first words I remember learning from her.”

Everyone waited for him to finish his story.

The man paused for dramatic effect, a small wry grin playing on his lips.

“What were they?” Sophia bit sweetly.

“ _Je’taime, lapin_ ,” the man said, tapping the tip of her nose gently.

“What’s that mean?” Carol asked.

“I love you,” the man said simply.

The RV was silent, Carol, flustered, glanced away from the man and stared hard out the window at the passing trees.

They drove on in relative silence, Fate directing Dale down the well hidden trail. The RV barely fit, but they managed to squeeze through the trees, with T-Dog pulling up the rear in the truck.

Eventually, going down the bumpy, uncared for path, they reached a black wrought iron gate set into a six foot and some high stone wall.

“Now, there’s a chain and lock on the gate,” Fate said. “But with Carol’s permission, I’d like to scale that wall and do a quick security sweep, lock it down tight before letting you all inside?”

“You don’t need my permission,” Carol said quietly.

“I won’t answer to anyone but you, General,” the Marine teased. “Give me your orders.”

“You don’t need my orders.” Carol protested.

“But I’ll take them.”

Dale and Glenn exchanged a look in the front seat.

“Better check,” Carol finally relented.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll come with you,” Glenn said. “Give you some back up, just in case.”

“Alright, Michigan,” Fate teased. “Load up and fall in.”

As the two younger men took off, the tall Marine scaling the fence and helping Glenn over, Carol moved to sit in the front with Dale, eyes on the gate before the RV.

“What do you make of him?” She asked softly, glancing back to ensure Sophia was still dozing in her spot against the window of the RV.

“Seems more stable than Shane,” Dale said hesitantly.

“Sophia has never attached herself like this before,” Carol admitted nervously. “Should I be worried?”

Dale was quiet. Only Carol and Glenn ever asked him for his opinion. It was something he wanted to do justice to.

“I like him,” Dale finally said. “Something about him is genuine.”

“He’s too charming, isn’t he too charming?” Carol whispered.

“Have you ever been to Louisiana?” Dale asked. “Every damned person there is too charming.”

“Why’d you come with us, Dale?”

The question was broached by Carol a lot sooner than he expected.

“Shane was making me uncomfortable and you throw Rick into the mix…it’s an explosive situation. Feel a lot safer out here on our own than stuck in the middle of that mess.”

Carol was quiet.

“You must trust him if you came after him like this,” Dale pointed out.

Carol was still quiet, staring hard out the window.

“You wouldn’t put Sophia in danger by being with him…” Dale insisted. “You’re just second guessing yourself because you’re being over protective now.”

“I’m just…no, you’re right. He’s…I think I made a good choice. He’s as good as anybody I suppose. I think…Sophia needs this.” Carol glanced in the rear view mirror to check on her daughter. “I want her to be surrounded by people she trusts…in case anything ever happens to me.”

Dale stared sharply at the woman. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“You saw what happens, Dale, to Amy, to Jim, even Jacqui. It’ll end for me some day,” she confessed. “I want Sophia to be happy, even if this world is going to hell. She trusts you and Glenn, but this man, this…she’s so attached to him already.”

“Well,” Dale said. “You said it yourself, he’s too charming.”

As they said this, the two men hopped back over the wall and approached.

“All clear, General,” the Marine said with a beaming grin, hopping onto the runner of the RV to peer inside and check on Sophia. Finding her sleeping, he added in a quieter tone, “the gate’s locked with a chain, so you’ll have to park the RV out here for the night, but come morning we’ll hunt the convent for the keys…or another lock, maybe.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Carol said.

The man nodded. “I’ll help you all get over that wall, she’s a hell of a drop.”

Carol nodded and turned to Dale.

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m probably going to need that help too,” Dale said. “At my age, any fall could shatter a damned pelvis.”

“Alright, _vieux_ ,” Fate teased.

She had settled Sophia into the cot in a small little hole in the wall room, before easing down on the floor among a sea of soft bedding, that funny bag the Lieutenant had given her in her hand.

Turning it over and over, she didn’t even realize she was holding it or what it was, before her racing mind calmed and she began to relax.

The reality of the situation sunk in.

What had she done? It was so sudden.

Oh God, what if Rick or Shane came after them?

That fear of having a man come after her and her daughter, that moment when they stilled before the strike—

She dropped the bag at the sound of a gentle tap at the door and sat up quickly, scurrying to the door and peering out the small slot first, before tentatively opening it.

“Yes?” She demanded, feeling like that woman she was back home, answering the door in the middle of a fight.

“Sorry,” the Marine on the other side of the door said, holding out a tray from the kitchen with two bowls of canned soup on it. “I thought maybe you’d be hungry before bed.”

“No, thank you.” She said.

He nodded. “Of course, sorry.”

She closed the door a little too abruptly and heard it tap the tray.

Frowning at her poor manners, she stood at the closed door for a moment, before sighing and opening it again.

The Lieutenant was already halfway down the long, narrow corridor, so she closed and secured her daughter’s door, then padded after him quickly, keeping a proper distance from him as he turned.

“Sorry,” she whispered to him.

He shook his head. “It’s been a long day.”

“No,” she hesitated. “I’m sorry. Here, let me help you.”

He stepped back, holding the tray up higher. “No, no, you go to sleep. I’ve got a patrol going here, keep you all safe while you sleep.”

She followed him to the kitchen quietly and took the tray from him first chance she got.

He reached out and snatched a bowl before she could do anything with it and it startled her so badly, she dropped the entire tray.

The bowls smashed on the floor and the soup splattered everywhere.

Carol immediately paled and backed away from him, grabbing a towel off the counter and murmuring, “I’ll clean it up. Sorry.”

The Lieutenant backed away from her quietly, before hopping onto the counter.

The faster she cleaned the mess up, the quicker she could pretend nothing happened.

Standing up to wring out the towel and rinse it in a bucket of fresh water on the counter by the sink, Carol dropped back to her knees and continued to clean the mess up.

“Where you from?” The Lieutenant asked finally after a few minutes of silence.

“Originally? Kentucky,” she said.

He nodded. “Why Georgia?”

“Ed’s family lived here.” She began picking up the shards of glass, thankful the Marine kept his distance.“And your family? They back home in Kentucky?”

She shrugged. It hurt to think about it, but they were more than likely dead. Her stomach clenched, it was how she learned to internally cry, but it always made her sick to her stomach if it clenched enough.

After a moment, she stood up and set the dirty rag into the sink after rinsing it again, then pulled the bag from her pocket.

She studied it quietly for a second, before approaching him, hand holding it out, eyes cast down.

“Here,” she said. “Take it back.”

He made no move to take it from her, so she scooched in closer to him and set it on the counter by his hip.

“What is that, anyways?” She whispered.

“Mojo bag.”  

She moved her eyes up to his face, taking in his form as he slowly eased down from the counter.

He was so tall and broad in the shoulders, more powerful looking than Rick and Shane combined. He looked dangerous, like someone who could do some serious harm if he ever got mad.

And he would get mad. They always did. Even Rick got mad, even Dale and Glenn got mad. The world was full of men and men got mad. Women got mad too, the only difference is that women normally couldn’t kill with her bare fists if she got mad.

Men were built strong and sturdy.

This one, he was a bulldozer in Marine gear and those fists were lethal weapons.

Still, she remained firmly planted as he took a careful step towards her, the bag held out again.

“Here,” he said. “It’s a good luck charm.”

She glanced up at his kind eyes, then at the bag. “I don’t believe in luck,” she murmured, before turning and quickly walking out, not daring to look behind her, just eager to leave.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning she stood beside the garden going through the pile of garden tools her daughter and Dale brought her, when Glenn approached.

“The RV’s backed up to the gate,” he said. “Think we’re actually pretty safe here.”

T-Dog joined them from the well where he was inspecting it. “Water’s good too, no ugly suckers in there.”

 “We have a garden, almost ready to harvest,” Dale pointed out. “Plenty of game in these woods, according to the Lieutenant…an infirmary with supplies and a fully stocked cellar with preserves and canned soups…I think we have ourselves a home.”

Everyone beamed, but Carol remained stoic, handing garden gloves over to Sophia.

“You found a good place for us here, Carol,” T-Dog said.

She was quiet, eyes on the glint of silver around her daughter’s neck as the dog tags the Marine had given her flashed in the sunlight. Sophia smiled as Glenn pointed out a cat playing in the shade of a nearby building and glanced at her mom for permission before scurrying after it, Glenn ambling after her to keep an eye on the girl.

Carol too kept her eyes on Sophia as her daughter caught up with the cat and scooped it up.

“Mom,” she said softly as she approached with the cat. “Look.”

“I see,” Carol said.

“Think…” her daughter hesitated and Carol offered her an encouraging smile. Ed was dead, the dirty bastard, Sophia didn’t have to be so afraid to ask questions anymore.

“Think what, sweetie?” She urged her little girl.

Sophia cuddled the cat. “Think we can keep it? I mean, like as a pet? In the house?”

The house, Sophia was referring to, was the dormitory for the convent and Carol wasn’t sure if they were going to stay long enough for it to matter. She was sure those things would chase them like they had chased them from the quarry.

Still, Sophia looked so happy, cuddling the large fluffy grey and white cat, her hazel eyes shining.

“Okay,” she said. “Think there’s some tins of salmon in the cupboards of the kitchen. Take Glenn and go feed the cat.”

Sophia beamed happily. “Thanks, mama.”

Carol smiled back. “You’re welcome. Go on, he looks hungry.”

“I’m going to name him Fate,” she heard her daughter chirp to Glenn as they headed inside. “Because that’s my favourite name.”

They were all sitting around a campfire T-Dog had built in the yard of the convent that night, enjoying the roast venison Carol had carefully cooked for them, eating until their sides were about to split for there was too much for the six of them, but the deer had been the only thing the Lieutenant could catch.

Telling stories about where they had been and what they had done, they laughed into the night.

It felt like the days of the quarry again, more like camping than running from a very real threat.

“So you used to just travel around in that RV with your wife?” The Lieutenant asked Dale. “Sounds like fun.”

“It was the best of times,” Dale admitted. “Now it’s the worst of times.”

“I wonder what Dickens would have to say about what’s going on,” Carol mused.

Dale chuckled. “I wonder what Poe would have to say.”

“Ah, he’d be delighted,” the Lieutenant said quickly. “Annabel Lee would be out of that sepulchre of hers and wandering around.”

“Who’s Annabel Lee, mom?” Sophia asked in her soft way, glancing up at Carol.

The Lieutenant smiled and leaned in towards the girl as though sharing a great secret. “It was many and many a year ago,” he began and then recited the entire poem to Sophia in a slow, easy drawl.

Carol enjoyed the cadence of his voice. It was a fine mix of pure southern drawl and beautiful French lilts, she had heard some low brow Cajun’s, but she had never heard such a fine spoken Cajun before. It was a beautiful thing to hear. She found she could listen to his voice forever. He could read the phonebook in that baritone drawl of his and she’d be charmed.

“I like that,” Sophia whispered sleepily, resting against her mother. “Could you tell another, please?”

The Lieutenant smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know if the others—“

“Do another,” Glenn urged.


End file.
